21 Chapter 21: Return to the empire/ The Rebellion begins

Hado looked at the bowed people in disgust, seeing them kiss Esdeath's boots.

"Well," Najenda said as she walked up, shaking her head with a weird look on her face, as if she was uncomfortable. "Seems General Liver is to be tried when he reaches the capitol..."

"That seems fair enough," Hado replied.

"I'm not sure I agree." She turned towards Hado, looking at him curiously. "With how many mistakes he made, and with how long he's been a General, he's done, they'll say he's guilty and lock him up until he's dead..."

Hado shrugged, not really caring about the fate of the General.

"And his lieutenant is nowhere to be seen... Probably deserted... Bulat was his name huh?" Najenda said, muttering as she walked off toward Esdeath, who was enjoying the power trip over the much weaker kingdom.

"You're right though," Hado said aloud, walking away from the crowd of soldiers. "He should never have been promoted to a general if he wasn't going to be strong enough all his life, a man has two things General Najenda..." Hado said, smiling as he walked away from the battle.

"And those are?"

Hado breathed in sharply, "His dick and his power, without one that man ceases to exist, and General Liver lost his power..."

***

The sun had set, leaving the sky filled with stars. The moon was full, shining brightly above the land, lighting up the night like a torch.

The army of Imperials rode through the countryside, taking everything in their path, thoroughly destroying the entire kingdom of Jiuca, leaving the incineration squad to burn everything down.

They killed women, children, and men, it didn't matter, everything was a target, and the empire got its job done.

When it was all over Hado finally relaxed, a smile on his face as he looked within, connecting with his insects like he had never done before.

"Master, your body has gotten even stronger these past few days, perhaps killing is the key to your growth?" One of the wrigglers said as others began to pay attention to him.

The insects had limited time outside since they'd left the empire, so feeling their master's presence was a joyous occasion.

"Huh... I was beginning to think I was just honing my technique... I didn't think I'd actually gotten stronger... Cool."

"What is the next mission, Master?" A jeweled wasp asked, restless as it looked distastefully at its wriggler companion. Clearly, the female species didn't like not being number one.

"Well... You guys are multiplying quite frequently, but that's fine, my body can handle it... For now, I say we focus on getting even stronger, I want to learn more about why you guys can do what you do, but that'll come with time... I'll be using you all more often from now on, so be prepared..."

With that Hado opened his eyes, appearing back on his horse, riding with the army back to the empire.

His body went on autopilot anytime he went into the cosmic space living inside of him where the insects reside. He wasn't sure how it works, but there was no way all those creatures could live inside of him at the same time, somehow his body was... Infinite...

'One step closer...' Hado thought, smiling as the sun set on the beautiful world that was destined to be his.

***

A few weeks later the army rode into the gates of the capitol, entering the city grounds, where the emperor waited for them.

Hado smiled at the sight of the man he'd yet to meet, wondering how he could manipulate this opportunity somehow.

The Emperor raised an eyebrow when he saw Hado standing there in front of the army, looking completely at ease and confident. He look accepted by the soldiers, even though he was clearly lower ranking.

"Emperor," Esdeath said as she hopped off her horse, followed by the rest of the army as they all bowed, 12,000 men and women survived out of the 19,000 they had originally left with.

"General Esdeath, General Najenda," The Emperor replied as he looked at Esdeath. "I trust you were able to handle and get rid of the nuisance in the south?"

"Yes Emperor," She nodded respectfully. "Though it cost us a lot of lives, we prevailed as usual, laying waste to the land..."

The Emperor nodded, looking at the prime minister with some newfound respect. He wasn't sure if he would be able to trust this new guy, but Prime Minister Honest had earned some rep after this battle. After all, he had been the one to suggest Esdeath in the first place while the emperor wanted Liver.

"You lot have done a great service, not only for me, but for your nation!" The Emperor yelled out, earning an in-sync hoo-rah from the troops.

"Not only have you saved the lives of everyone in the empire, but you have protected my newborn son's legacy as well, and for that, I thank each and every one of you..."

With a large cry from the troops, the Emperor gestured for his wife to come forward, holding a baby of 5 weeks in his arms.

'Huh... Guess he's officially announcing it now that the south is wiped out, smart move...' Hado thought to himself, looking at the two generals at his side.

"You boy, what is your name? And why are you in line with your superior's?" The Emperor asked. Though he didn't say it condescendingly, Hado couldn't help but take the words to heart.

'No one's my superior...'

Hado didn't have to answer though as General Esdeath stood up. "Private Hado was a great asset in this battle, he has a powerful imperial arms that allows him to poison people, his combat skills are not lacking either, Private Hado is a great soldier Emperor, and that is why he kneels next to me..."

Hado looked at General Esdeath, not sure how to feel about her words.

They were nice, yes, and it made him feel good as well, but they were unneeded, why had she said them instead of him explaining himself?

Hado hated not being in control, and that was why he couldn't stand the blue-haired general. She needed to die, no she needed to be broken, then tossed to the side, forgotten by all.

Hado hid his emotions as best as possible, but there was no hiding the hint of bloodlust from Esdeath, who snapped her head toward him, her eyes narrowing as the bloodlust quickly dispelled.

"Hah, understood, thank you as well Private Hado, with such high praise from General Esdeath, I believe it is safe to say you have quite the future with the imperial army, I look forward to seeing you grow..."

With that, The Emperor walked with his wife, escorted by the royal guard as the citizens of the empire cheered for the imperial army...

...

(Somewhere Unknown)

"Geez, first Esdeath, then this Najenda, and now we have to deal with another imperial phsycho? Budo and Liver are bad enough as is, and the emperor is a problem on his own... We don't have enough numbers for this..."

A man paced in a dark room with four others, complaining and whining until another member spoke up.

"Although the south has been lost, we have made contact with the north, and they have promised to aid us, even their prince has promised to fight with us once the time comes... and once he's of age of course..."

The man stopped pacing, looking at another member leaning against the wall.

"What about you? You've been fraternizing with the enemy, surely you learned something about the empire?" He said, looking at the blonde girl who stared at him blankly.

"Yeah... I did," She said as she brought a gun up, shooting it and killing the man instantly.

The other members looked at her in surprise as she shot again, hitting the man once more in the head.

Several more shots let off before the gun ran out of ammo, leaving the girl clicking.

"What I learned about the empire? That it needs to be destroyed... Immediately," Sayomi said, her eyes dull as the rest of the members looked on at her. Some fearful, and some inspired, but all of them sure of one thing. The rebellion had officially began.

And that was how Hado started the rebellion against the empire.

——

A/N: Since we're starting to gain a little traction, I think I'll update more, I thank everyone who is reading and commenting and such, you guys are my inspiration.

Here is a discord link if you would like to join.

Discord: https://discord.gg/NkRaDdNkev

Ps. Sage needs stones, how else is he supposed to cultivate? ;)